Donna+Roe


 * SUMMARY:** "Donna," age 19, died in 1973 from abortion complications.

"Donna" is one of the women Life Dynamics notes on their "Blackmun Wall" of women killed by legalized abortion.

Donna was 19 years old and 17 weeks pregnant when she underwent a prostaglandin abortion in 1973.

This was Donna's first pregnancy. She had no pre-existing conditions, but her doctor suspected that she was an IV drug user.

About two hours after passing the dead fetus, Donna went into cardiac arrest. The autopsy found a microscopic pulmonary [|embolism], and an electrolyte imbalance. Either of these can lead to cardiac arrest.

As you can see from the graph below, abortion deaths were falling dramatically before legalization. This steep fall had been in place for decades. To argue that legalization lowered abortion mortality simply isn't supported by the data.

Source: Life Dynamics "Blackmun Wall", citing “Fatal Pulmonary Embolism During Legal Induced Abortion in the United States from 1972-1985,” Lawson, Herschel W., MD, Atrash, Hani K., MD, MPH, Franks, Adele L., MD, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vol. 162, No. 4, April 1990, p. 986-990; “Deaths caused by pulmonary thromboembolism after legally induced abortion,” Kimball, Hallum, Cates, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sept. 15, 1978, 132:2, 169-74

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